To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the original Jurassic Park film, the LEGO® Group released five new sets in June 2023. They graciously sent me the whole collection to review. This prompted me to undertake my own Jurassic Park celebration. The movie remains my favorite to this day, and I’ve prepared a full week of content around the anniversary. As the first review in True North Bricks’ Jurassic celebration, I’m taking a look at Velociraptor Escape (76957). As the only 4+ range set in the collection, let’s all try to keep our expectations low and remember the target audience… With that in mind, the fanboy in my still found a number of things to enjoy in this particularly simplistic set.
NOTE: The LEGO® Group provided this set for review. However, the provision of products does not guarantee a favorable review. True North Bricks’ usual rating system applies (click here for more information).
Velociraptor Escape Specifics
- NAME: Velociraptor Escape
- SET #: 76957
- THEME: Jurassic Park 30th Anniversary (Jurassic World)
- COST: $49.99 CAD
- BRICK COUNT: 137
- MINIFIGURES: 2 + 1 Velociraptor
- RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2023
Velociraptor Escape Quick Review
- VALUE: 7% (Terrible value compared to other LEGO® sets I’ve reviewed.)
- BUILD: 75% (This is a parts box for AFOLs… but it is a decent one.)
- MINIFIGURES: 100% (A good number of great characters with loads of accessories.)
- ENTERTAINMENT: 80% (Decent set for Jurassic Park fans and small children.)
- OVERALL SCORE: 66% (Passable set.)
| What I liked | What I didn’t like as much |
|---|---|
| Robert Muldoon Minifigure Velociraptor Printed bricks | Simplistic builds Overpriced for what you get Minifigure leg printing isn’t complete |
VELOCIRAPTOR ESCAPE REVIEW
VALUE: 7%
Let’s get the ugly truth out of the way… 4+ sets are never a good value. They come with huge, bulky pieces that are expensive to produce. Case in point, Velociraptor Escape. This set costs $49.99 in Canada while including only 137 pieces. Consequently, the cost/brick is $0.36. My average for LEGO® sets in general is $0.137. On the other hand, Jurassic World sets tend to be pricier owing to licensing and large dinosaur elements. For the theme, the average is more like $0.184/brick. Either way, the parts in this set cost A LOT. I rate the cost/brick at 3%. I don’t have much experience with 4+, the only other one I have reviewed was about the same.
Velociraptor Escape took me 20 minutes to assemble. At full price, that puts the cost/minute of build time at $2.50. Once again, that is a terrible value from an AFOL perspective. While we need to remember that this set is not meant for AFOLs, I have nothing other than my own experiences with LEGO® to compare this to. Given that my average cost/minute is $0.85 for LEGO® in general and $1.06 for the Jurassic theme, I rate the build time for this set at 11%. Averaging this with the cost/brick score gives an overall value rating of 7%.
BUILD: 75%
Let’s not kid ourselves, Velociraptor escape is not going to offer AFOLs much of a build experience. This set is designed with the intent of teaching small children how to build. With that said, I was surprised that the ATV is made of regular LEGO® bricks. While I have little experience with 4+ sets, the other one that I have assembled came with one, chunky, large brick for the vehicle frame. At least these parts I can reuse elsewhere. As a matter of fact, I can reuse all of these bricks elsewhere, even the chunkier-than-normal door frames as interesting.
Another interesting aspect of this build is the signage. While there are only four elements with additional detail, each one of them is printed. Of course, that makes perfect sense for 4+ set. Can you imagine how crooked those stickers would be otherwise? I like all of the printed elements, especially the Jurassic Park tile. We also see the return of the printed egg previously available in the Wildlife Rescue City sets. Finally, the computer screen displaying raptor information is wonderful.
No stickers 🙂
As an experience, this set might be fun to build with your kid, especially if you are trying to get them interested in Jurassic Park. They might be too small to actually watch the movie or listen to you read the book… but what kid doesn’t like dinosaurs? You can always start them off with Camp Cretaceous or the LEGO® Jurassic World videos. As a strictly AFOL set, I’ll give it pass as a parts box. I will even go so far as to say it is a decent parts box for Jurassic Park fans… I’ll rate it at 75% for that reason.
MINIFIGURES: 100%
Velociraptor Escape comes with two Minifigures. We get another Ellie Satler. However, the character of interest to JP fans is Robert Muldoon. This is the first LEGO® set to include the character. Otherwise, both characters have new front and rear torso printing. Ellie also has a double sided face. While I am happy to see both characters have front leg printing, I am disappointed that the printing does not extend to the sides, nor are the legs dual molded. I know the LEGO® Group can do better, and we’ve seen better in earlier versions of Ellie. With that said, you also get a rifle, two darts, an egg, a chicken leg, a hotdog with bun, a frog, a two-way radio, and of course, the raptor. The number of accessories easily makes up for the lack of leg detail. I rate the minifig designs and accessories at 100%.
The first Robert Muldoon Minifigure!
In addition to the two minifigs, we also get a new raptor color variant. I like the more muted tones compared to some of the vibrant editions in recent years. Don’t get me wrong, I like those raptors too (well… most of them…). But this one is truer to the original film. Of course, this is the same raptor you get in the Visitor Center set. That isn’t a bad thing either since the raptors in the movie all looked pretty similar. In any case, I count the raptor in the fig count for this set since it has moving parts and quite a bit of play value. Therefore, three characters in a 137-piece kit means 46 bricks/fig. Whether you compare that to LEGO® in general or just the Jurassic theme, you get an excellent number of characters for a set this size. I rate that at 100% as well.
ENTERTAINMENT: 80%
It is always a bit challenging to try and rate a set clearly not made for adults by AFOL standards. Personally, I find this actual set rather uninteresting. I will promptly recycle the parts for other projects as soon as this review is finished. However, as a fan of Jurassic Park, I have to say I like the raptor and Robert Muldoon characters. I’m happy to have them in my collection. Probably only hardcore JP fans will feel the same, so this is certainly a niche interest set. I think kids will enjoy the dinosaur as well, though I imagine the original Jurassic Park is not really age appropriate for the 4+ crowd. Therefore, I doubt many kids will fully appreciate the Robert Muldoon character. In any case, this is a decent set for small kids and JP fans, so give it 80% for entertainment.
OVERALL SCORE: 66%
The main drawback of Velociraptor Escape (76957) is the poor value of this set. You do not get many bricks or much build time for the price. It is actually one of the worst value sets I have ever reviewed. However, it all depends on how you define value. I stuck with True North Bricks’ usual rating system. But, as a hardcore Jurassic Park fan, part of me thinks this kit is worth more than 66%. The value of the new raptor color scheme and Robert Muldoon minifig put this set on my wish list even before the LEGO® Group offered them to me. Most AFOLs will have no use for this set. But, if you have kids or just LOVE Jurassic Park like me, this set might be right up your alley 😉 What do you think? Let me know in the comments or reach out on social media.
Until next time,
-Tom
Want to support True North Bricks?
If you like the content at True North Bricks, please follow on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, or TikTok for regular content. Additionally, you can support True North Bricks by making your LEGO® (and other) purchases using the links below. As an affiliate of those retailers, we earn from qualifying purchases. These earnings come at no extra cost to you but help to keep the content at True North Bricks free.